“Drop the shield you have around Kyril, Ryanne, but keep one around us,” Larkin tells me. I pull some magic back in, visualizing the shield disappearing around Kyril. I inhale when my magic reenters my body and then nod at Kyril, silently telling him that he can leave. He stands up and casually walks to the door, entering the compound without a problem. Larkin reaches over and grabs my arm. “Drop the shield,” he tells me.
The second the shield is gone, we transport back to the house into the middle of the living room. Everyone looks shocked at our sudden appearance except for Colton and Liam. Liam has his arms crossed across his chest, annoyed and Colton…At the angered look on Colton face, I smile up at Larkin. “Told you.” He curses and moves me in front of him, firmly holding onto my upper arms.
Colton jumps up from the couch and glares at Larkin. “Where did you take her?”
“You can’t use me as a shield,” I snap at Larkin, who takes a step back and drags me with him.
Larkin takes another step back and raises his arms in surrender. My smile widens, and I answer, “Dravin’s compound.” Exaggerating my step, I move to the side away from Larkin.
“You took her to Dravin’s compound?” he yells and takes a step forward. I walk past them and sit on the couch with a smile, waiting to see what happens next.
“I needed her to meet someone…the same guy that made it possible for us to rescue you guys,” he tells him. When Larkin mentions that Kyril helped save us, Colton takes a step back, giving Larkin some space. Larkin exhales loudly, relieved that Colton isn’t threatening him anymore.
Colton walks backward until he comes to the edge of the couch. Sitting down beside me, he reaches out and pulls me to his side. Looking up at him, I pout. “That was anticlimactic.”
Larkin laughs and points to me. “I told you so.”
“I bet him that you’d hit him, but you had to go all nice guy and back down,” I tell Colton.
“Did you at least find out anything? If you didn’t, I’ll hit him,” Colton promises me.
“Well we found out that Dravin is angry about what happened and that he’s no longer going to try and get information out of me. He’s going to try and extract my magic or just kill me. And that we have to keep Natalie safe.”
“Me? What does Dravin want with me?”
“Your magic isn’t completely embedded inside you like most mage’s. Like me, you can push your magic out which is apparently the only type of magic he’s found a way to extract.”
“He wants my magic?” she asks incredulously.
“Yeah, that’s why Natasha attacked you guys. She was supposed to bring you to Dravin,” Larkin says.
“Why would Natasha do that?” Conner asks.
“Because Dravin’s got her completely wrapped around his finger, and he’s a freaking crazy psychotic lunatic who is obsessed with power and control.” I think that’s what I said in the compound during my little empowerment speech.
“Exactly,” says Colton. He tightens his grip around my shoulder. I scoot as close as I can to him because I know he is remembering what happened that night. I rest my head on his chest and silently try to comfort him. I know that the vision Dravin made him see still bothers him, even though it wasn’t real.
“Don’t think about that, Colton,” I whisper to him. Reaching my hand up, I cup his cheek and force him to look down at me.
Giving me a sad smile, he says, “How did you know what I was thinking about?”
“Because I know you.” I lean up and kiss him on the underside of his jaw.
“She’s a keeper, Colton,” Emma says while looking at Colton.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
I bite my lip to try and hide the huge smile that threatens to form. I don’t like everyone watching us, but I like being able to sit here like this with him. I like being able to act on my feelings and not trying to hide anything. The whole soulmate thing scares me. I am worried that he’ll wake up one morning and realize that there’s nothing special about me and want to leave. I am afraid that he’s going to get bored with me and want nothing to do with me. It scares me how much I feel for this guy. I haven’t known him for that long, but we’ve been through so much already.
And there’s still so much to come.
Chapter Seven
Entering the training room, I hear Natalie gasp beside me. I smile over at her. It is weird seeing the old decrepit storage barn and then walking through the doors into this large training room. Even those who have known of magic their whole lives are surprised. “Is this a spring floor?”